If you look closely at the "snowflakes" above... they are actually made from wrenches!

A construction cone tree...

Get your kicks...

on Route 66

This is the car's body shop decorations...

Hubcap tree

Okay... off to A Bug's Land. The lights, candy cane, and Santa pencil are really BIG because when you enter a Bug's Land you become the size of an ant.

Paradise Pier has a Latin Christmas themed area...

Paradise Pier's tree. Can you spot the hidden Mickeys?

And then giant presents were scattered along the walkway. I think they are used for the nighttime show.

I would also like to point out the beautiful pink roses that are STILL BLOOMING in Winter! Ahhh yes, the beauty of Southern California.

This cracked me up. These ducks were just sitting there on the concrete. As if that is the most comfortable place to sit! ha!

Ok, run back to the other park!

You have to watch the Christmas parade.

One of the many floats...

If you missed the parade, it airs on Christmas Day on national tv. Did you know that they actually film that parade in mid-November.

It cracks me up... the day they filmed it this year it was almost 90 degrees! If you watch the parade like I did last year... people were wearing scarves. I am pretty sure those were handed out as props and that people were probably sweating since it's usually warm mid-November. I guess we will see!

I hope you enjoyed this little trip to Disneyland.

I also hope that you have enjoyed my 25 days of Christmas. I had a fun time blogging about Christmas. It was a bit exhausting; having a new post every day is very time consuming.

Merry Christmas and see you in the New Year!

(all pictures in this post aside from the Christmas banner were taken by me and are property of mine. Do not use without permission).

Monday, December 23, 2013

Christmas Pyramids!

Christmas pyramids are yet another one of my favorite Christmas decorations.

It is unknown when they originated, but it is thought as early as the 1500s from the Erzgebirge region in Germany.

How do they work?

The heat from the candles rise, causing the blades above to spin. In a dimly lit room, the figures dance on the ceiling and walls.

They come in all sizes.

Here are mine:

The rabbit one is powered only by wind. Set him under a heating vent and he will turn!

The one below is one I got at an estate sale. I have never seen anything like him before.

I don't know his age, probably at least 1960s or older.

The candles provide the power, and then when the fan turns it rings a bell. I had this one sitting under a vent... it turned annoying very quickly!

antique pyramid

Here is my kitty cat wind powered pyramid:

My "big" pyramid, a single tier, sits in the center of the table. I never took a picture directly of this one!

A sampling of single tier pyramids:

By Christian Ulbricht, love how the birds fly above

Another single tier pyramid. Single tier are the most popular.

a more modern pyramid, I like how it resembles a palm tree

Now, double tier!

a very fancy pyramid

another double tier! from Kathe Wohlfahrt

And now... THREE tier!

three tiers!

Three tiers not big enough? How about... FOUR TIERS!

from Kathe Wohlfahrt

another 4 tier....

oh my goodness, FIVE TIERS! They had to add another tier of candles to power this baby!

Not big enough for you? You can buy a 6 tier pyramid! (Note, this one is electric!)

a colorful large pyramid

And of course, the Germans have a really big pyramid in the center of a Chriskindlmarkt. How cool is that?!

And, another German city has a large pyramid as well.

a very large pyramid!

What size pyramid do you want to have? I am thinking either a 3 or 4 tier pyramid for me. The question is, go for the painted colorful ones or go for the natural wood ones? Another question, Nativity themed or Winter themed? What do you think? Help me decide!

Images from Erzgebirge Palace unless otherwise noted. These are all for sale, I highly recommend visiting their website and checking them out. (I have no financial interests in this company).

Welcome!

Peonies & Orange Blossoms is a decor and lifestyle blog about European-influenced decor, fashion and travel. Follow us as we build our dream French Country House. Oh, did I mention I love French pastries? Bisous, Angelina

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